


Funny When You're Dead, How People Start Listening

by fangirlandtheories



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, I cried while writing this, I'm so sorry..., Mama Baird, Son Ezekiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 04:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10959231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlandtheories/pseuds/fangirlandtheories
Summary: Eve snaps on Ezekiel during a mission and says something she regrets for the rest of her life.





	Funny When You're Dead, How People Start Listening

**Author's Note:**

> This was an Anon's request on tumblr. I hope you guys enjoy. I'm so sorry.

She didn’t mean it. It had just slipped out in a moment of irritation. She felt horrible. His face! He trusted her and she betrayed him. Eve released a shaky breath as she raised a hand to the door in front of her. She gave a quick, hard knock, rattling the light door beneath her fist.

“Go away.” The voice inside groaned.

“You don’t even know who it is!” Eve answered, furrowing her brow. The door swung open, revealing an annoyed Ezekiel.

“Oh, Baird, what a surprise.” He gave a wide, fake smile. “Go away.” With that he slammed the door shut. Eve gasped lightly, before huffing and began knocking again. That’s when she heard multiple locks slide into place. Naturally he would have a million and a half locks to keep his competition from breaking in.

“Look, Ezekiel, you know I didn’t mean it. It just slipped out and I’m sorry! Just let me in so we can talk.” She practically begged.

“Eve, please. Just go.” Ezekiel said quietly through the crack of the door. Eve felt numb as she heard his steps lead away from the door. She had no choice but to go.

_ Stupid. _

She had no idea where it came from but it did. It had happened during their last mission. It wasn’t even that difficult of a task, but none of them had gotten much sleep so they were all vaguely annoyed to begin with. Ezekiel with his never-ending energy seemed to be perfectly alright, even a bit too hyper. Turns out he had a double shot of espresso before joining them. Ezekiel on his own was hyper enough, but with added caffeine he was going off like a rocket. That’s not good when you’re around three other people who are very tired. They were trying to sneak through the Victoria & Albert Museum in London so that they could find Da Vinci’s notebooks. This was case more built for Jake and Cassandra’s caliber. That’s the only sensible reasoning she could come up with.  Essentially, Ezekiel was there to get them through the door and to grab the notebooks out of the display. 

It had happened at the notebooks. He had the case opened and they were looking at Da Vinci’s drawing of attachable wings. Jake was completely engulfed in the artistry of the sketch, while Cassandra concentrated on the science behind making the wings work. Ezekiel… well he was bored. 

“I don’t get it. Why would he write backwards?” He asked, leaning over Jake’s shoulder.

“Because,  **_Jones_ ** ,” Jake huffed in irritation. “He didn’t want people to steal his ideas. If they couldn’t read it, they couldn’t understand it.”

“Maybe he should’ve locked it up tighter.” Ezekiel shrugged.

“Locked it up tig- Baird! Why is he still here?” Jake turned to Eve in frustration.

“We wouldn’t have the notebooks without him.” Eve reminded, trying to amend the situation. “Even if he doesn’t understand the importance of them.”

“Woah woah woah…” Ezekiel turned around to her quickly. “What is  _ that  _ supposed to mean?”

“Well I just mean… This isn’t really your thing. You’re more modern so in comparison to Jake, Flynn, or Cassandra you’re kinda stupid with the historical stuff.” There it went. Flying out of her mouth faster than her brain could process the thought. The room suddenly turned tense and silent. Ezekiel’s eyes fell to the floor as Cassandra and Jake watched cautiously.

“Oh…” Ezekiel mumbled. “I see.”

“Ezekiel I didn’t mean it like-” Eve began but was cut off. 

“It’s fine. No harm done.” He faked a smile. “If you all will excuse me, I just remembered I made plans for tonight so I gotta jet. Enjoy the notebooks.” With his hands in his pockets and his head down, he began to walk towards the door.

“Ezekiel, wait.” Cassandra sighed, beginning to walk after him, but he was already gone. He had gone back through the backdoor and was probably headed home by that point.

“Baird… That wasn’t…” Jake started, unable to even finish his thought.

“I know. I’ll talk to him later. Right now let’s just finish this case.” She sighed, still staring at the door that he had quickly walked out of. She needed to set this right.

That’s why she was standing outside of his apartment. Her heart felt heavy as she thought about the fact that if he had so many locks to only open his front door, how many would he have to have to open his heart? She saw the sliver of light extinguish from the door crack and she knew she wasn’t going to get to speak with him that night. Still, she was going to press her luck.

“Ezekiel? If you can still hear me, I’m going to come back tomorrow, except I’ll ask Jenkins to make your front door the destination for the back door so you can’t lock me out. I’ll be here at 8 am sharp. If you come see me before that, however, we won’t need to go through the trouble of invading your privacy.” She sighed softly. “I really am sorry.” Then she left.

Ezekiel stood on the other side of the door, listening intently. “They always are.” He mumbled as he drove the heels of his hands into his eyes. It sounded like he was going to need to wake up early tomorrow.   
It was 7:45. His plan was to leave just before she got there, just to make it more frustrating for her to return to the Annex and find him there. He drove across town to a building under the bridge, and waited.

“Ezekiel?!” Eve yelled, back at his apartment. “That little son of a-” She stopped her sudden realization as she looked around. He had a pretty nice house. It was very cozy. A little unexpected actually. She walked into his kitchen and smiled. On the refrigerator was pictures of him as a child, hugging who she presumed was his mother. There was another picture of him with other kids, some older, some younger. She knew some of them had to be siblings based on the drawings, or scribbles really, that also hung on the doors. They were addressed very lovingly to “Uncle Zeke” with little hearts and rainbows drawn around them. 

Her heart lurched a bit when she turned to the table to find a college level history book open on the table, turned to a page about the Renaissance. She knew that he had only looked at it that night, because the first article on the page it was open to was about Da Vinci. She sighed, pulling out her phone and dialing his number.

“Where are you?” She asked when she heard him pick up the other line.

“I’m at the Annex.” She could hear a smug smile forming on his face. “Where are  _ you _ ?”

“I’m at your house.” She deadpanned.

“Now what would you be doing there?” He asked with fake sweetness. She could hear the anger he still felt bubbling deep down.

“Looking through your pictures,  **_Uncle Zeke_ ** .” Suddenly his end got silent.

“Yeah well… A mission just popped up for me. So sorry to cut this conversation short but I really must go and save the world. Ta ta.” He ended the call quickly. 

“Ezekiel, no! I need to come with you.” She yelled back, but he was already gone. Anytime a Librarian performed a mission without a guardian, the likelihood of death increased exponentially.  Baird ran back towards the door, hoping to get there before he used the backdoor. She ripped open the door, only to find the hallway staring back at her. She was too late.

When she finally got back to the Annex she was greeted by a grave sight. She had gotten back as quickly as possible, but it still took her about 30 minutes to make it back. That was, apparently, enough time for Ezekiel to get himself into huge trouble. She was greeted by a teary Cassandra and a stressed looking Jake, Jenkins nowhere in sight.

“What’s going on?” She asked. “What happened.” Then she noticed the blood on the floor, on the table, everywhere. 

“Ezekiel… he-” Cassandra began before choking on her own tears.

“He doesn’t look so good Baird. Jenkins was worried. This doesn’t sound like it’s going to end well for him.” Jake told her solemnly.

“No. You’re Librarians. You don’t think like that. You have hope where there is none. What exactly happened?” She asked shakily.

“He was shot by a poisonous arrow. He was bleeding really heavily and he was kinda green. He’s back there with Jenkins.” Cassandra whispered, fearing that if she spoke too loudly, something awful might happen to her favorite thief. Eve heard the word shot and poison and began racing towards Jenkins’ lab.

“Jenkins! Is he going to be okay? What can I do?” She asked as she ripped open the door. Ezekiel lay on the cot, whiter than she had ever seen him. His eyes were sunken and she could hear his shallow, labored breaths. His side was red and sticky with blood. Fear ran through Eve’s thoughts. He was shot in his abdomen, which is a. The most painful place to be shot but also B. The area that is most likely to become infected.

“Colonel, it’s… it’s not looking good. I’ve done everything I can to turn the effects of the poison but nothing is working. I fear the worst.” He gave her the most honest answer, yet she refused to accept it.

“No… there has to be something… anything. Don’t we have any magical healing juice?” She asked frantically.

“I’ve tried everything we have. It’s too powerful.” He answered quietly. He had always hated being the bearer of the news but it was worse because this was Ezekiel. Everyone’s immature little brother so to speak. He was quick, uncatchable, nothing like this should’ve ever happened to him.

“What about the ‘break the glass only in emergency’ potion. You said it heals  **_everything_ ** .” She turned, with tears in her eyes.

“Colonel…” Jenkins whispered. “I couldn’t subject him to that. You know the side effects of that potion. He’d be alive, yes, but he’d be paralyzed for the rest of his life. That’s not Ezekiel.”

“Dying isn’t Ezekiel either! I am the Guardian and it is my duty to keep him alive.” She argued.

“He wouldn’t be alive!” Jenkins snapped. “Don’t you understand? He’d be breathing and living but he’d never be the Ezekiel we all know and love. He’d be miserable and depressed and I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone, let alone someone who we all care so much about.” Jenkins’ yelling was cut off by a beep. A long, hard beep, coming from the heart monitor. Ezekiel was gone. They whipped their heads around to him to find his pale skin to have sunken to an off grayish color, his chest no longer rising and falling.

“Nonononono.” Eve said quickly through tears. “We have to do something! CPR! Defibrillate him! Anything!”

“Colonel.” Jenkins waited, but he could tell she didn’t hear him. “Eve.” Her head snapped up at him. “We’d be prolonging the inevitable. He’s gone. I’m so sorry I failed. I wish I could’ve done more.” He spoke calmly and gently, face full of emotion, but no tears. He couldn’t cry over death anymore, it had become the only constant in the immortal’s life. 

“Will you… tell the others? I don’t think I can and I need a moment to myself.” She sighed, wiping away some of her tears. Jenkins nodded before exiting the room, leaving her alone with Ezekiel. Their annoying, cocky, sweet, selfless thief was dead. Their was nothing she could do. As she thought back on their time, she remembered the immense pride she felt for him. He always managed to make her smile and amaze her with his vast knowledge. He’s the nicest criminal she knows. Knew.  Her latest memory wasn’t so great. She called him stupid. He was so hurt and now he was gone. She’ll never get him to forgive her. No matter how many times she apologizes, it’ll never be enough because it was all her fault. He looked at her like a mother and she directly insulted him and put no faith into him.  A new thought spiked through her like a dagger made of ice.

_ Oh God, His family. _

_ Uncle Zeke. _

_ His mother… his  _ **_actual_ ** _ mother. _

She had to tell them. Face to face. It was the only way. She stood slowly, moving towards the door, before pausing and looking back at Ezekiel. It felt so wrong to leave him so vulnerable, so exposed, so she covered him with his blanket. As she fired up the door for a small town in Australia, she heard the sobs of Jake and Cassandra and knew that Jenkins had to have given the news. It was her job to tell his family. 

She walked though the door to a small trailer park on the bad side of a small town. Windchimes clanged against themselves, breaking the eerie silence. A place like this wasn’t for Ezekiel. The people in places like these tended to stay safe in their one spot forever. Ezekiel couldn’t be placed in a box like that. She glanced down at the file she had brought with her that told her all she needed to know about his previous life and found his house number. She searched around until she found a broken down mobile home with the paint chipping off. She knocked and a heavily pregnant woman answered the door.

“Hi, I’m Colonel Baird, I’m looking for the family of Ezekiel Jones…” She asked.

“Oh… a colonel. Mama!” She had a thick Australian accent as she yelled into the home. “There’s a soldier from the States looking to talk to us about Zeke.” Eve heard a fork drop onto a plate before seeing the same woman from Ezekiel’s photo appear.

“Now you listen here, Missy, I don’t care who you are or where you’re from, but you are not getting my son involved in any more of those missions.” She spoke before Eve could even open her mouth. “He’s just a child! Have some humanity! Wait… Aren’t MI6 operatives meant to be British?”

“You must be his mother. Please, allow me to explain. I’m Colonel Eve Baird and I work alongside Ezekiel at his current job and-” She began.

“You’re Eve?” His mother beamed. “Well why didn’t you say so? He talks about you all the time.” She pulled Eve into a tight embrace. “Thank you for taking care of my son.” It was like a punch to the stomach. How could she tell her after that?

“Can we sit down and chat? I have some news for you.” So Eve sat down and explained. She’d never seen anyone so brokenhearted in her entire life.

“You know,” His mother sniffled. “He never knew that I knew he was a thief. He always made up some story about where all the money he was giving us had come from, so I played along, for his sake. He was such a good kid.”

“I know, I only wish I had gotten to know him more.” Baird told her sincerely.

“Was he happy around you?” She asked.

“He seemed to be, yes.” Colonel answered.

“Cherish that smile. The mischievous glint in his eye. You gave him everything he wanted out of this world: The opportunity to use his gift to make a difference, to save the world every week, twice before friday.” Eve turned to the woman in shock and smiled when she winked at her. “He was never good at keeping secrets from me.”

Eve spent the rest of the night with Ezekiel’s family, crying and laughing and reminiscing. As night fell, she felt that it was time to return home to see how the others were coping. She exchanged numbers with his mother and promised to keep in touch about all the arrangements.

She walked into an empty Annex, her own footsteps the only sound. She walked across the room, about to head upstairs, when she heard a voice.

“So… you talked to my mother.” It was cocky and arrogant and smug and Eve burst into tears immediately as she ran down the staircase, to the mirror in the middle of the room. His face was splayed across the surface, eating pizza. Of course.

“You… you…” She stuttered.

“Yeah.” He smirked. “If Judson can do it, why can’t I?”

“Ezekiel… I’m so sorry. I never ever meant a word of what I said.” She cried into his reflection.

“I should be pissed, but the first thing you did after I died was go see my family, so I guess you’re evened out.” He smiled a real smile. They spent the rest of the evening talking. About love, life, everything. It was almost as though he was alive again. As the years went by, he was always there. He laughed alongside Eve and Flynn’s kids, helped Cassandra pick out the perfect outfit for a date with her girlfriends, Lucy and Estrella, and of course, pranked Jake. His life left a permanent mark on the Library and on everyone’s lives. He was the only Librarian besides Judson to become one with the Library. Despite not being able to leave the Annex, he still helped save the world every week, and twice before Friday.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. As always comments and kudos are appreciated but never expected. Come visit me @ fangirlandtheories.tumblr.com


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